Case-Based Design of Mechanical Equipment

Abstract

This paper describes a framework of case-based reasoning systems for design problem solving. In the proposed framework, the use of multiple cases is essential in reducing the problem solving complexity and the knowledge acquisition bottleneck. The framework incorporates a 3-step process. First, a case similar to a user's requirements (called base case) is retrieved. Second, differences in requirements between the user and the base case are identified, and subsidiary cases (called sub-case) are retrieved to modify the base case. Third, the base case and the sub-cases are composed to make an overall solution. Using cases for modification greatly reduces the efforts of acquiring modification knowledge. The advantages of our framework include : (1) necessary knowledge can easily be acquired as the form of design object model, and (2) the validity of the solution is likely to be achieved. The framework has been applied to a prototype system in the mechanical design of induction motors. In a preliminary evaluation, its performance was found to be comparable to that of a human designer.